Lifelong Friendships Honored
Doug ’78 and Sharon ’78 King
When Sharon and Doug talk about MIT, they recall the lifelong friendships they made and how they found each other through the MIT Ballroom Dance Club. Married for 39 years, they decided to retire early so they could spend more time with friends and family, and wondered how they might meet their financial needs. Doug was hoping to generate income for their future. Meanwhile, Sharon wanted to honor her MIT friend, Beryl Nelson ’78. An MIT Charitable Remainder Unitrust (CRUT) fulfilled both goals. With a CRUT, donors contribute to a trust that establishes income for themselves or other beneficiaries and at the end of the trust’s term, the remainder becomes available to MIT for a designated purpose. But the Kings’ contributions are meaningful in another way: they are emblematic of the life-changing friendships the couple forged at MIT.
Remembering a beloved friend.
“One of the big things I gained from my time at MIT was lifelong friendships,” says Sharon. “I wanted to do something that would recognize the incredible friends I had made at MIT.” One of those friendships was with Beryl, Sharon’s first MIT friend and roommate in McCormick Hall. “She was incredibly smart academically, but also insightful with people,” Sharon recalls. After Beryl passed away from cancer in 2015, Sharon wanted to make a gift to honor her friend who touched so many people’s lives. “She was always very good about bringing people together in different ways—for example, when she lived in India, she hosted visiting MIT students,” Sharon says. “Friends were important to Beryl, and MIT gave both Beryl and me great friends.”
Why planned giving at MIT?
While there are many different ways to honor a loved one through giving at MIT, Doug and Sharon decided that establishing a CRUT in Beryl’s memory was the best choice for both their philanthropic and financial goals. “We had recently retired and were looking to restructure our investment portfolio,” Doug explains. “Both of us had small pensions, and we were looking to add a pension-like investment to provide some stable income to complement our stock portfolio. We appreciated that we could establish the fund in memory of Beryl.”
Strengthening outcomes through communities.
Knowing that Beryl had supported MIT over the years, Doug and Sharon were glad that the residual from the CRUT could support purposes that were important to Beryl. “In the future, our gift will support the Class of 1978 Student Aid Fund and unrestricted gifts for MIT to use as it wishes,” Doug says. “Given our MIT experience, we are confident that the gift will support intentional community building on MIT’s campus, encourage a better understanding of all communities and people, and encourage people to use their unique strengths—personalities, cultures—to achieve more.”
“Life can take you in all kinds of different directions and places, but it’s wonderful to be able to return to our and our friends’ shared MIT experience.”
Furthering the MIT experience.
Looking back, Doug and Sharon both value the well-rounded experience they had at MIT, from their engineering courses to sports to ballroom dancing—which they still do. “The work that MIT does to encourage creativity and friendships is so important, especially when it comes to cooperative learning,” Sharon says. “Life can take you in all kinds of different directions and places, but it’s wonderful to be able to return to our and our friends’ shared MIT experience.” Doug agrees: “Because of MIT, I’ve met amazing people including my wonderful wife. Because of MIT, I was able to have fun as an engineer in industry for 35 years, creating and designing mechanical equipment that didn’t exist before. Now, after retirement, I’ve been able to mentor some high school students and hopefully teach them some engineering. We can’t thank MIT enough for all it has done for us.”